School district staff changes announced

Lisa Chamoff

Updated 6:22 pm, Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Superintendent of Schools William McKersie announced staff changes Tuesday as part of the central office reorganization proposed last year to cut nearly $1 million from the district's operating budget.

As part of the consolidation plan, which McKersie outlined in January, four program coordinator positions will be combined into two. The language arts and social studies program coordinator positions will be combined into one humanities program coordinator position, which will be filled by Language Arts Coordinator Jennifer Mitchell. A new science, technology, engineering and math program coordinator will combine oversight of the district's science and math curricula; that position will be filled by Science Coordinator Sheila Civale.

The district has also established a reconfigured program coordinator position focused on library and media services, which Fran Kompar, formerly coordinator of media and technology for the district, has accepted. As part of the proposed digital learning plan, the district will create new director of digital learning and technology position. That role has not yet been filled.

All four administrators will start in their new positions July 1.

Social Studies Coordinator Jarret Pepe also serves as assistant principal at Western Middle School. McKersie declined to comment on any changes to Pepe's position or salary.

McKersie said the personnel changes will save the district more than $700,000 overall.

Under the reshuffling initiative, the district is also eliminating the music/theater coordinator and the physical education coordinator positions.

In February, McKersie also announced non-certified staff changes. As part of those changes, also effective July 1, the district cut administrative assistants for facilities and residency verification in the central office and at Parkway School, and also eliminated three vacant assistant positions.

Several positions were also reduced from full-time to part-time, including an administrative staff assistant for the assistant superintendent, a confidential assistant for the Board of Education/communications and the contracts coordinator.

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The district's school nurse supervisor position was also reduced to part-time, but McKersie said he continues to look into how that cut will affect schools after school nurses said they were concerned that the reduction would affect how they serve students with complex medical issues.